Various types of pressure sensing systems for monitoring the pressure within the tires of an automotive vehicle have been proposed. Such systems generate a pressure signal using an electromagnetic (EM) signal, which is transmitted to a receiver. The pressure signal corresponds to the pressure within the tire. When the tire pressure drops below a predetermined pressure, an indicator is used to signal the vehicle operator of the low pressure.
Various tire manufacturers have suggested various locations for the pressure sensors. Known systems include coupling a pressure sensor to the valve stem of the tire. Other known systems and proposed systems locate the pressure sensors in various locations within the tire wall or tread. Tires are mounted to wheels that are commonly made from steel or aluminum.
When the tire pressure is a low tire pressure a signal is received by a controller. The controller warns the vehicle operator to remedy the problem. Such problems are remedied by replacing the low tire with a spare tire or filling the low tire to increase the pressure therein.
A tire pressure monitoring system uses a receiver to receive the information from the various tire pressure transmitters. Other vehicle systems also use a receiver for receiving information. For example, a remote keyless entry system generates various control signals from a transmitter including locking and unlocking control signals. In vehicle systems it is desirable to reduce the number of components and therefore the costs associated with each of the components. It would therefore be desirable to combine the tire pressure monitoring receiver with a receiver in another vehicle system such as a remote keyless entry receiver.